This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Formula One starts Sunday (late Saturday, actually) with the Australian Grand Prix and that means the racing season will officially be under way. Only the local short tracks and road courses will have to wait for the weather to warm up before they, too, can get the green flag.

TSN, as everybody knows, televises F1 in Canada and they have good news. As of this weekend, TSN will partner with Sky Sports in the U.K. and will expand its coverage of all 21 races on the calendar.

In addition to the practice and qualifying that’s been on TSN in recent years, the all-new pre-race coverage from Sky Sports will feature things like a track parade, driver interviews and the rest of the action from pit lane prior to the start.

Race coverage will feature play-by-play by Martin Brundle and David Croft, with expert analysis from former World Champion Damon Hill and retired drivers Anthony Davidson and Johnny Herbert. The host will be Simon Lazenby and feature reporters Ted Kravitz, Natalie Pinkham and Rachel Brookes (I haven’t heard of half of them either).

TSN’s post-race coverage from Sky Sports will include the podium celebrations, instant reaction from the track, detailed analysis of the race, and more.

Article Continued Below

Now, this is not a great weekend for all of this to debut because the Australian race will come on in the middle of the night, just as most of us are going to bed. But you can record it all, if you are so inclined, and enjoy watching everything at a more civilized hour. Or, in case of just the race itself, there will be a repeat at 8 a.m. Sunday.

So, just so we are all on the same page, the pre-race show comes on TSN at 11:30 p.m. Saturday (parade, pit lane, etc.). The race is at 12:55 a.m. and then the post-race show runs from 3 to 3:30 a.m.

It’s going to be easier on everybody when the European season starts . . .

Now, while talking about world motorsport, I have bad news for MotoGP fans. Unless you go to the website and sign up for live streaming, you will not be able to watch this weekend’s opening race.

And that’s because MotoGP has signed a contract for North America with something called BeIN TV, a very obscure channel. I don’t know which cable or satellite company carries it, if any.

Despite rumours that the race will be on Fox Sports 1 in the United States on Sunday, that is not true.

Speaking of TSN (we were a few paragraphs ago), the NASCAR XFinity Series race from Auto Club Speedway in California will be available for viewing Saturday (check George’s listings for time and specific TSN channel) and the Sprint Cup Series race will go Sunday afternoon at 3:30 with the pre-racing show starting at 3 p.m.

Speaking about where to watch something, the 12 Hours of Sebring goes to the post on Saturday and the race can be seen on Fox Sports Racing (FSR) by Rogers and Cogeco customers. If you are a Bell or Shaw client, there is live streaming available at the IMSA.com website.

Saturday's race begins shortly after 10:30 a.m. ET and is the second round for both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup.

Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa are being joined by Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP in their bid for a second consecutive Sebring triumph.

But it won’t be easy because they are up against a diverse Prototype class field that boasts a pair of Honda-powered Ligiers — including the winning car from the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona; three similar Corvette DPs; the debut of the Nissan-powered ORECA 05; the Panoz DeltaWing Racing coupe (which was leading at Daytona when it had a crash, something that probably won’t happen again — at least, in the same circumstance), two Mazda Prototypes and a pair of BMW-powered Riley DPs.

“Sebring is probably the most difficult race of the year for our series,” said Fittipaldi, who helped Chevrolet to its second overall Sebring victory in 2015 – and first since 1965.

“You have the perfect storm of challenges when you think about the warm temperatures, the age of the track surface and just the beating that both the drivers and the car take for 12 hours. The race is proportionately more difficult than any 24-hour race.”

We’ll take that last sentence with a grain of salt.

Moving right along, there is a strong possibility that two Canadian drivers will be in the field May 29th for the 100th anniversary Indianapolis 500. We all know about James Hinchcliffe but it was announced Thursday that Alex Tagliani — the only Canadian to ever win the pole for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing — will pilot the No. 35 A.J. Foyt Racing Honda Dallara for sponsor Alfe Heat Treatiug Inc.

As well as the 500, Tag — who was inducted into the Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame last fall — will race the car in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the road course at the Speedway, two weeks before the main event.

“I feel very privileged and honored to be driving the Alfe Heat Treating Honda,” said Tagliani, who won the pole for the 2011 Indy 500. “Alfe is a great company and I met a lot of good people last year with their headquarters being so close to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I’m very excited to be driving for the A.J. Foyt Racing organization again. To be driving for them at the Speedway during the month of May is very special. The 100th Running of the Indy 500 will make it even more unique.”

The car No. 35 was chosen to honor Foyt’s 35 consecutives starts in the 500 — a record — and the livery will evoke memories of the black No. 14 Copenhagen cars that Foyt drove during the latter part of his legendary career.

Tagliani drove a Foyt Racing car sponsored by Alfe last year and finished 17th in the 500. In addition, Alfe Heat Treating is returning for a sixth straight season as an associate sponsor of the team that fields the No. 14 and the No. 41 ABC Supply Honda-Dallara driven by Takuma Sato and Jack Hawksworth.

Additionally, Alfe Heat Treating will return for the sixth straight season as an associate sponsor of the team which fields the No. 14 and No. 41 ABC Supply Honda-Dallaras driven by Takuma Sato and Jack Hawksworth.

Last, so far as live racing this weekend in concerned, the NHRA Gatornationals Finals (Sunday, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.) will be seen live on FSR. Doug Kalitta sits atop the Top Fuel standings, Ron Capps is leading Funny Car and teammates Jason Line and Greg Anderson are dominating Pro Stock. And for the first time this season, Pro Stock Motorcycles join the party, as the two-wheelers make their 2016 season debut at Gainesville Raceway.

PIT NOTES:

— The Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama and the Ultra 94 Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada by Yokohama are teaming up for two races this summer. The first round will go on the Canadian Grand Prix weekend at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve June 10-12 and the other will be part of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen program at Watkins Glen International in New York June 30-July 2. . . .

— Toronto’s Motorcycle Spring Show 2016 is happening at the International Centre April 9 and 10. One of the largest motorcycle shows in North America, the Spring show will have something for everyone including one-of-a-kind show bikes, vintage bikes, a mini-bike stunt show and celebrity guest appearances by Canadian Super Bike Racer Trevor Daley and actor Kim Coates who played “Tig” in the popular series Sons of Anarchy. . . .

— Will Power has been cleared to race after it was determined he didn’t suffer a concussion at St. Petersburg last weekend after all.

— Finally, the Canadian Touring Car Championship presented by Continental Tire (CTCC) is proud to announce that B&G Performance (B&G) will extend its partnership with CTCC for the next three seasons and continue to be the exclusive fuel supplier.

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com